UPCOMING EVENTS

Multi-channel network Fullscreen has acquired StageBloc to extend the musician-centric digital marketing company’s services to its group of creators. Financial terms were not disclosed, but StageBloc’s team and technology are both included in the deal.

Started in 2013 by Tom Giles, Josh Holat, and JD Hartley, StageBloc has been the direct-to-fan platform for artists like Metallica, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, and many others. Besides creating websites and mobile apps for artists, it also offers analytics, ecommerce stores, and other tools to help artists manage their digital identity. It also keeps track of all the data to help users make smarter decisions about marketing. All of the company’s current clients will be retained under the Fullscreen brand.

One of the major content and brand networks to emerge with the rise of the YouTube stars, Fullscreen specializes in helping youth creators distribute their videos and not only expand their reach, but make money while doing it. A majority stake in the company was acquired by Otter Media, a web video joint venture between AT&T and the Chernin Group, in 2014.

Following the purchase, StageBloc has been renamed Fullscreen Direct. It’ll serve as a resource to help creators — from musicians to filmmakers — manage their online presence more easily. The company already has a similar product with its Fullscreen Creator Platform, which launched in 2013, but which is currently focused on properties not owned by Fullscreen. With Direct, creators will now have a place on the company’s domain that they can call their own and use to manage their community of followers.

“With Fullscreen Direct, we continue our dedication to help organize and contextualize actionable data for creators, offering insights that help amass audience and revenue growth,” said Giles. “Our products will offer Fullscreen creators, and artists at large, a simple and straightforward experience to cultivate their brands through media that they get to own and operate.”

What StageBloc provides Fullscreen is a more complete experience for creators. Not only does the company offer places to host videos, it also offers tools to manage their presence in the real world — tours, major conferences, and the like — through Rooster Teeth. But, of course, there still needs to be a website or global community around the product, which is where StageBloc comes in.

Fullscreen Direct is free to use, but the company will likely take a percentage share of the revenue that accounts make.

StageBloc had raised $610,000 in venture funding, all through debt financing.